The Ride
by Chanty0
Summary: Lisbon finally gets caught up in the game between Jane and Red John.


**Hello everyone!**

**This is my first Mentalist story. I enjoyed writing it and I hope you'll enjoy reading it!**  
**English is not my native language, so please forgive me for my bad spelling but most of all my inability to write in the right tense. **  
**I did try my best though!**

**Please enjoy and maybe leave a review?**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own The Mentalist**

* * *

She somehow always believed that when you have a near death experience, life would flash before your eyes. Or at least some part of your life.

Lisbon was sitting down on the side of the road looking at the ditch where her car was submerged. It was pouring rain.

No. The only thing she saw or thought of were memories of today. Today had been a good day, until now. There had been no murder, the weather had been good and Jane had behaved. He surprised her though when he told her he would be consulting for another team. At first she had raised her eyebrow at him in question but understood when he gave her the you-know-why look.  
Yes. He was going to see if he could find out anything about the remaining suspects on his list.

When he called her a few hours later, she answered her phone;

"Miss me already Jane?" Lisbon smiled into her phone, took a file from her desk and walked over to Rigsby's desk.

_"You have no idea. This guy is even more of a slave driver than you"_

"Miss you too Jane." Rigsby looked up at her with one raised eyebrow but Lisbon shot him down with a look and forced him to sign the file she brought over .

"And I know you probably already solved the case so if you hurry up you can get started on all the paperwork that's sitting on your desk. Oh no wait, Van Pelt already did that for you." She lectured him.  
"Anyway Jane," She said before Jane even had time to respond, she wrapped up the phonecall, "I'm taking them out for lunch."

_"Ahh, eating meals together is always a great way to bond. Where are you going?" He asked._

"Was thinking of taking them out for some eggs."

_"In that case, I think I can make it back on time-"_

"No," Lisbon said teasingly , "You have a job to do. Besides you have other friends to play with now."

_"Now Lisbon-"_

"Bye Jane." Lisbon cut in again and hung up the phone.

When the team was leaving for lunch, Van Pelt got a text-message. Lisbon had smiled to herself knowing it was Jane.

* * *

The day had gone by quickly after lunch. Lisbon made sure that her team left on time and got home before dark. Jane still wasn't back from his adventure. He had texted her a couple of times to complain about his 'new partner', she only responded to one.

The rain had started  
Lisbon liked the ticking of the rain on the hood of her car, it always calmed her down. The ticking reminded her of the time she once went camping with her brothers. Though camping is not her thing, the trip had been good and had brought her good memories.

While driving, she decided she didn't want to go home yet and took a detour. Which, she decided later, was a mistake. While in the second half hour of her detour she noticed something sticking out of her glove compartment. She reached out to get it and noticed it was a Polaroid. The contents of the picture had her shivering. Lisbon looked back onto the road with a pounding heart and saw it was empty save for her car. The falling rain wasn't soothing anymore but came with a more ominous feeling. That feeling turned out to hold true.  
Soon after, she tried to slow down for a corner but her car wouldn't sow down. She pressed down on the brake twice more but the car wouldn't listen. Steering the car wouldn't work as well, the road was way too slippery.  
The words on the back of the photo came back to her.  
Preparing for impact was now the only thing she could do. Her arms were up, protecting her face.

The car flung off the road, missed a tree but ended in the ditch behind. The impact was massive. Lisbon's face hit the steering wheel despite her arms. She blacked out.

A few minutes later she came to, her body sore, her head acking. She was only half aware of the car horn still screeching. When she lifted her head of her steering wheel the horn stopped. It took her a moment to get upright but when she was, she made sure she had the Polaroid, her phone and gun with her.

And now she was sitting here, soaked, waiting and contemplating what just happened.  
She should've called 911, she knows she still should. All she had done was text Jane though, asking him to meet her here.

When had she gotten so caught up with this? Caught up with him? She knew her relationship with Jane crossed the professional boundaries, but it was hard not to. He had needed her when they first met, but it wasn't long until she needed him as well. It wasn't long until they became close friends. But somewhere along the line it had gotten screwed up. They surpassed mere friendship. They became partners, companions. There was a little attraction from her side. If she looked objectively at Jane, she saw his blonde curly hair, shaven face with great features, beautiful smile, well presented with a nice suit and nice shoes and of course beautiful eyes. But when she looked at him subjectively, and filled in the blanks, she knew she saw empty eyes, fake smile, very old suit and mended shoes.  
Those flaws in him made him more attractive to her. He wasn't as perfect as he sometimes presented himself to be.

Somewhere in the distance she could hear a car approaching.  
She has no idea how long she's been sitting there but she guessed it was probably Jane.

Soon she heard the car door slamming and footsteps approaching. Jane came to stand next to her and kept quiet looking at the remnants of her car. The rain now falling on his head, streaming down his face and soaking his suit.

After a few minutes of standing there, he looked down at Lisbon. Her striped shirt was red with blood. Most came from her nose but some from the cut on her forehead.

"Get up." Jane held out his hand for her to take.

Lisbon didn't respond immediately but when she did, she handed him the Poladoid that she had tucked away in her blazer.

He wordlessly took the picture out of her hands.  
There was a big red smiley face painted on a wall. It was Lisbon's bedroom. Jane turned the picture over.

_'The game is changing._  
_Looking forward to the last one._

_RJ'_

After a few more silent seconds, Jane looked down at Lisbon again.  
"Come on." He repeated again. This time he didn't wait for a response but put a hand under her armpit and pulled her to her feet. She swayed a little but stood steady.  
Jane made sure Lisbon followed him by grabbing her hand. He opened the car door to the passenger side and motioned for Lisbon to get in.

The car door on the driver side slammed shut.  
Jane just looked at her sitting in her seat, looking at her hands with a blank expression.

"Theresa." He used her first name to draw her attention. It worked. Lisbon looked at him. He saw no tears.

Jane grabbed her hand and squeezed trying to give her some reassurance. And Lisbon let him.  
He wanted to say that he would protect her from him, but he knew he couldn't. Red John had already gotten to her and he hadn't been there. What's to stop him from getting to her a second time?  
"I'm sorry." He said to her.

Jane reached out with his other hand and traced a finger along the line of the cut on her face then let his hand fall to the side of her face.

"I'm sorry, Theresa." He repeated again.

Lisbon finally spoke.  
"I know," She gave him a weak smile, this time she believed him. "But don't. I knew what I got myself into."

Jane looked Lisbon over again. This unbelievably strong and beautiful woman in front of him was now being targeted by a serial killer who was using her as a ploy to get to him. Patrick Jane.  
But still, she wasn't mad at him. All she had ever done was be there for him when he needed her and keep him sane when he was about to lose it. She was the closest and only friend he had since he lost his wife and daughter. He had let her come to close and now he was paying the price.

He stared her in the eyes and did something he felt was long overdue. Jane brought his head forward and planted a kiss on Lisbon's lips. Lisbon closed her eyes. She kissed him back a little. It was a soft and sweet kiss. Not the hungry or lust filled one she secretly imagined they would share.  
She was glad for that.

Jane pulled back and stared back at Lisbon who was now slowly opening her eyes. He smiled at her cheeks which were now giving her a healthy pink blush, compared the ghostly white she had been before.  
Jane knew what he had just done wasn't the right thing to do but he hadn't been able to keep the crosshairs off of her. That was the only reason he hadn't done that before. And by the she kissed him back, he knew he made the right judgment call.

"I'm going to take you to a hospital." He told her.

Lisbon didn't protest.

When they were on their way, their hands still linked, Lisbon spoke.  
"We will get him, Patrick. Whatever it takes. Not you, not me, Us."

"I hope you're right, Theresa. I hope you are."

He kept his eye on the road but brought her knuckles to his lips and gave them a kiss.

* * *

**Thanks for reading!**  
**R&R?**

**Chanty,**


End file.
